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发帖数: 1814 | 1 https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/4a2bu9/what_really
the_chicago_rally_my/
What really happened at the Chicago rally - My Firsthand AccountTRUTH (self.
The_Donald)
submitted 9 hours ago * by ChicagoTrumpAttendeex2
At 2:30 p.m., I arrived at the Donald Trump rally located at the UIC
pavilion in Chicago, IL. There was light police presence at the Blue Line
station, and the pavilion was short walk away. There I waited in line for
about an hour until making it to the front doors, going through a security
scanner, and finding a seat in the main hall.
For nearly two hours the pavilion filled until it neared capacity. It was
clear that protesters were seated around the room, given easily away by
their manner of dress. Most of the Trump supporters, being suburbanite or
small town white people from outside of Chicago, were dressed strikingly
normal—jeans and t-shirts, yoga pants or dresses, and the occasional suit.
The first protestors began around 5:30 when two young white males pulled off
their coats to reveal t-shirts with anti-Trump slogans. At this point I
noticed the police presence inside the rally was a mere 8 police officers,
bolstered with hands-off event staff.
Before 6:00 p.m., a man spoke on the microphone and requested that rally
attendees do not touch or harm protesters who interrupt the event. He
reminded the protesters that Donald Trump supports the first amendment as
much as the second.
Following this was a string of smaller incidents, such as people holding up
improvised signs and shouting.
One entire bleacher row was filled with protesters and they began chanting
and throwing around torn up signs.
A few people who began standing up and screaming, and were slowly escorted
out by police. The police kept leaving the protesters unattended throughout
this, taking 4-8 officers to escort protesters out one at a time.
A black man in a black jacket ran up to the front stage, bumped into the
podium, and attempted to speak, but was wrestled down by two men in suits.
As they escorted him through the crowd, he took a swing at a Trump supporter
. The men escorting him were incredibly gentle and restrained themselves
from using any force.
Then voice came on and declared that the event was postponed. A few minutes
later, they informed us that Trump had landed in Chicago and spoken to
Chicago Police officers, and that due to safety concerns, the rally was
canceled.
At this point, the protesters began to descend into chaos. Aside from a few
mild “TRUMP” and “USA” chants, the Trump supporters were mostly quiet
and bewildered as the protesters began to scream, chant, and run around the
main floor area in a huge pack, flipping off the rally attendees and
swearing at them. There were a few tense altercations between the two groups
, but from what I saw at this point, no violence.
The rally was instructed to leave the pavilion, and I have to admit, the
Chicago Police messed up bad here.
We walked straight out of the building and into enormous packs of protesters
screaming at us, with little police presence to protect the Trump
supporters.
Following this, I wandered the protest grounds to see what was going on. My
memory is a bit jumbled at this point because I was so pumped up, but let me
string together the events as clearly as possible:
Many of Trump propaganda signs, most commonly depicting him as Adolf Hitler,
but others showing him with a small penis, simple signs of text English and
Spanish, signs.
Young women shouting anti-white racial epithets.
“THE PEOPLE ARE UNITED. WE WILL NOT BE DIVIDED” being shouted at Trump
supporters who holed themselves up in a parking garage, quietly fearing for
their safety. Another good one by the protesters was “FREEDOM FIRST!
FREEDOM FIRST!” Strangely enough, there were a good amount of signs calling
for peace and freedom. Lots of peace signs being flashed with the fingers.
A single white Trump supporter who held up a sign and stood quietly as three
dozen people surrounded him, smiling and screaming, snatching and pushing
at him until he had to run for police cover. Someone grabbed his American
flag and threw it on the ground and he fought to recover it. The police
escorted him away.
Two young men, perhaps 17-19, standing quietly as they waited for a ride
home. They were wearing their MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN hats, looking
terrified as people cursed and swore at them, and occasionally threw furious
challenges for debate. The two young men held their ground. Only once did
one of those hats come down, and it quickly went back on again.
A general atmosphere of pleasure and happiness from the protesters. A common
chant was “WE WON!” and “WE STOPPED* TRUMP!” It honestly felt like a
social event for the protesters. There was plenty of mingling
Plenty of shouts at Trump protesters that Trump and his supporters are not
welcome in Chicago. I challenged one on the first amendment. He said he does
not consider himself an American and continued insulting the grizzled old
white man he was arguing with.
Extremely inefficient police presence. The cops were lined up on their
horses or standing behind barricades, but generally were not present where
Trump supporters were being hounded and occasionally struck by protesters.
The protesters were primarily composed of millennial-aged: white hipsters,
African Americans, Hispanics, and Muslims. Some of the protesters were
teenagers below voting age.
The protesters flew a big set of American, Mexican, and Puerto Rican flags.
There were lots of small American and Mexican flags too. *The Trump
supporters mostly fled for safety immediately. You have to understand, they
were outnumbered by thousands of protesters.
There was media presence, but not as much as you’d think. Plenty of areas
where chaos was going on had no media nearby. The reporters were mostly
getting people to talk to them off to the side where nothing was going on,
or focusing ongoing debates between Trump supporters and rally members.
A small amount of the protesters were smoking weed. (I have nothing against
this personally, just included for accuracy.)
Plenty of chants for “BERNIE! BERNIE! BERNIE!” Some Trump supporters
looked at each other in bewilderment. “But Bernie Sanders isn’t even
running against Donald Trump,” was the common sentiment.
Edit: The Trump supporters had a general trust for the police, while the
protesters saw their presence as antagonistic. This is especially
interesting to me, because as a foreigner and person of color I am generally
afraid of police.
Closing statement:
Obviously I did not see everything that occurred as I wandered the protest
grounds outside the cancelled Chicago rally. What I did see, however, was
fear. Fear from the rally attendees for their immediate safety, and fear of
Donald Trump from the protesters.
More than that, I feel that I experienced today, for the first time in my
life, true totalitarianism and authoritarianism, expressed laterally from
citizen to citizen, in order to silence opinions from being shared. This
enforcement was shared through sheer numbers and intimidation, and in a few
cases, violence.
People brought their children, loved ones, and friends to attend the Trump
rally. I saw an older Asian man and his white wife in attendance, and the
looks on their faces when the rally was declared cancelled almost broke my
heart. I saw scared children clinging to their parents’ sides as they
exited the building to the screams of protesters. I saw a quiet, but excited
crowd of Donald Trump supporters get thrown out of Chicago.
Worst of all, I saw the first amendment trampled, spit on, and discarded
like trash.
This cannot go on. As I finish this, I feel a sense of utter dread and
hopelessness for what is becoming of the youth in this country, particularly
those of the regressive left. So polarized has political opinion become,
that dissenting thoughts on college campuses are now seen as hateful. These
people deal in absolutes. They are right, and whatever means they must take
to achieve their ends, they will do it. They will not stop themselves from
violence or censorship. They will do it, and they will call hell down upon
you if anyone dare does upon them the same.
Tonight I went to the Trump Rally to hear the thoughts of not only the man
who was supposed to come and speak, but the people who support him. I found
respect. I found calmness. I found peace.
The truth is, I am a legal immigrant, not a US citizen. I am not American. I
am not white. I cannot vote.
After tonight, I support Donald Trump.
Lastly, for anyone who thinks the protesters didn’t incite violence tonight
, I offer you this.
Updates:
Tallon5 posted a bunch of images and videos that match up to my personal
accounts
Super Hat Bros FOUND! Personal friend of theirs speaks out
Another account from the PoliticalDiscussion subreddit
Thanks for the gold and all the kind comments. I hope you guys stay safe.
Remember that the best way to make America great again isn't just voting,
but making yourself great too. That goes to anyone who reads this,
regardless of who you support or what you believe. |
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